Sterile tab for glove removal

ABSTRACT

A glove can be used for preventing contamination when removed. The glove is configured to accommodate a user&#39;s hand and includes a tab extending from an edge of the glove proximate to an opening in the glove. The tab includes an outer border smoothly joined to an inner tab; wherein the outer border is thicker than the inner tab.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation in part of non-provisional patent application U.S. Ser. No. 14/644,708 filed on Mar. 11, 2015, which, in turn, claims priority to provisional patent application U.S. Ser. No. 61/953,492 filed on Mar. 14, 2014, the entire contents both applications is herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

The embodiments herein relate generally to sterile environments, and more particularly, to a glove, such as a medical glove, with a removal tab.

Many occupations, particularly in the medical field, require the use of gloves to reduce or prevent contamination of any sort. Gloves aid in preventing cross-contamination of disease, bodily fluids, and blood pathogens. However, removing a medical glove without touching any part of the body, such as the user's wrist, or an accessory, such as a wrist watch, is very difficult.

In triage, medical personnel may quickly move from patient to patient. Oftentimes, the medical personnel will layer gloves so that only removing the top layer is required between patients. However, when gloves are layered, it is very difficult to remove the top glove without touching the glove layered below the top glove. Specifically, when removing a blood covered in fluid, such as blood, it is almost impossible to remove the glove without getting a finger under the top edge of the glove, which can compromise the safety of the medical personnel.

Therefore, what is needed is a mechanism to aid a user in removing a glove, while also helping the user prevent touching the glove being removed to any adjacent surface.

SUMMARY

A glove can be used for preventing contamination when removed. The glove is configured to accommodate a user's hand and includes a tab extending from an edge of the glove proximate to an opening in the glove. The tab includes an outer border smoothly joined to an inner tab; wherein the outer border is thicker than the inner tab.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The detailed description of some embodiments of the invention is made below with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein like numerals represent corresponding parts of the figures.

FIG. 1 is a top view of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention, demonstrating an initial stage of glove removal.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention, demonstrating complete removal of the glove.

FIG. 4 is a top view of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a detail view of one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description of the invention, numerous details, examples, and embodiments of the invention are described. However, it will be clear and apparent to one skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth and that the invention can be adapted for any of several applications.

The device of the present disclosure may be used to remove a glove and may comprise the following elements. This list of possible constituent elements is intended to be exemplary only, and it is not intended that this list be used to limit the device of the present application to just these elements. Persons having ordinary skill in the art relevant to the present disclosure may understand there to be equivalent elements that may be substituted within the present disclosure without changing the essential function or operation of the device.

-   1. Glove -   2. Tab

The various elements of the glove with a removal tab for protecting a user from contaminants existing on the outer surface of the glove of the present disclosure may be related in the following exemplary fashion. It is not intended to limit the scope or nature of the relationships between the various elements and the following examples are presented as illustrative examples only.

By way of example, and referring to FIGS. 1-3, some embodiments of the glove of the present disclosure comprise a glove 12 configured to accommodate a human hand 14 and a removal tab 10 extending from an edge of the glove 12 proximate to the opening of the glove 12. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, the removal tab 10 may be positioned proximate to the user's thumb.

To make the glove of the present disclosure, a glove 12 may be made as conventional with a tab 10 added to the glove 12. For example, a material used to make the glove 12 may be sprayed onto a mold, including the addition of a tab 10 proximate to the opening of the glove 12. The glove 12 may then be removed from the mold with a burst of air. In other embodiments, the tab 10 may be added to the glove 12 using any suitable method.

To use the glove of the present disclosure, a user 14 would wear the glove 12 as normal. To remove the glove 12, the user 14 may pull on the removal tab 10, which may result in the glove 12 rolling up and enveloping the outer surface into an interior of the glove. Additionally, using the removal tab 10 to remove the glove 12 may prevent the user's skin, uniform, watch, layered gloves, and the like from being contaminated by the outer surface of the glove 12.

The glove 12 of the present disclosure may be made of any desired material, such as latex, nitrile, or any other desired material. The tab 10 may be made of the same material as the glove 12 and may be an extension of the glove 12. In other embodiments, the tab 10 may comprise an alternate material and may be added to the glove 12 after the manufacture of the glove 12.

Turning to FIG. 5, the tab 10 can further comprise outer border 20 smoothly joined to inner tab 22. In this configuration, outer border is thicker than inner tab 22. Outer border 20 further comprises first edge 24 which is joined to first narrowing edge 26. First narrowing edge 26 is joined to first inner support edge 28. First inner support edge 28 is joined to second inner support edge 30. Second inner support edge 30 is joined to third inner support edge 32.

The portion of tab 10 bound by first inner support edge 28, second inner support edge 30, and third inner support edge 32 is fused to internal adhesion strip 16. Internal adhesion strip 16 is configured to bind tab 10 to glove 12.

Third inner support edge 32 is joined to second narrowing edge 34. Second narrowing edge 34 is joined to second edge 36. Second edge 36 and first edge 24 are joined to front edge 38.

Front edge 38 is parallel to and collinear with front edge axis 40. First edge 20 is parallel to and collinear with first edge axis 42. First narrowing edge 26 is parallel to and collinear with first narrowing edge axis 44. First inner support edge 28 is parallel to and collinear with first inner support edge axis 46. Second inner support edge 30 is parallel to and collinear with second inner support edge axis 48. Third inner support edge 32 is parallel to and collinear with third inner support edge axis 50. Second narrowing edge 34 is parallel to and collinear with second narrowing edge axis 52. Second edge 36 is parallel to and collinear with second edge axis 54.

One design goal of embodiments of the present invention is to be able to remove the glove 12 from the user 14 without tearing tab 10. One way to do this is to configure, first inner support edge 28 and third inner support edge 32 to align with the Abductor pollicis brevis on user 14.

Another way to do this is with coordinated angles of the various axis listed above. For instance first edge axis 42, first inner support edge axis 46, third inner support edge axis 50 and second edge axis 54 are all parallel to one another. Similarly, front edge axis 40 and second inner support edge axis 48 are parallel to one another. Front edge axis 40 and second inner support edge axis 48 are both perpendicular to first edge axis 42, first inner support edge axis 46, third inner support edge axis 50 and second edge axis 54.

First intersection angle θ1 is measured from front edge axis 40 counterclockwise to first narrowing edge axis 44. Second intersection angle θ2 is measured from front edge axis 40 clockwise to second narrowing edge axis 52. Third intersection angle θ3 is measured from second inner support edge axis 48 counterclockwise to first narrowing edge axis 44. Fourth intersection angle θ4 is measured from second inner support edge axis 48 clockwise to second narrowing edge axis 52.

In preferred embodiments, first intersection angle θ1, second intersection angle θ2, third intersection angle θ3, and fourth intersection angle θ4 are approximately equal and approximately 45 degrees. This would mean that first narrowing edge axis 44 and second inner support edge axis 48 are perpendicular to one another.

As used in this application, the term “a” or “an” means “at least one” or “one or more.”

As used in this application, the term “about” or “approximately” refers to a range of values within plus or minus 10% of the specified number.

As used in this application, the term “substantially” means that the actual value is within about 10% of the actual desired value, particularly within about 5% of the actual desired value and especially within about 1% of the actual desired value of any variable, element or limit set forth herein.

All references throughout this application, for example patent documents including issued or granted patents or equivalents, patent application publications, and non-patent literature documents or other source material, are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties, as though individually incorporated by reference, to the extent each reference is at least partially not inconsistent with the disclosure in the present application (for example, a reference that is partially inconsistent is incorporated by reference except for the partially inconsistent portion of the reference).

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

Any element in a claim that does not explicitly state “means for” performing a specified function, or “step for” performing a specified function, is not to be interpreted as a “means” or “step” clause as specified in 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶6. In particular, any use of “step of” in the claims is not intended to invoke the provision of 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶6.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate that numerous design configurations may be possible to enjoy the functional benefits of the inventive systems. Thus, given the wide variety of configurations and arrangements of embodiments of the present invention the scope of the invention is reflected by the breadth of the claims below rather than narrowed by the embodiments described above. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A glove for preventing contamination when removed, the glove comprising: the glove configured to accommodate a user's hand; and a tab extending from an edge of the glove proximate to an opening in the glove; the tab comprising: an outer border smoothly joined to an inner tab; wherein the outer border is thicker than the inner tab.
 2. The glove of claim 1, wherein the outer border further comprises: a first edge, joined to a first narrowing edge; a first inner support edge, joined to the first narrowing edge; a second inner support edge joined to the first inner support edge; and a third inner support edge joined to the second inner support edge; wherein the first inner support edge and the third inner support edge are configured to align with an Abductor pollicis brevis on a human hand inside the glove.
 3. The glove of claim 2, further comprising: an internal adhesion strip, configured to bind the tab to the glove; wherein the internal adhesion strip is formed between the first inner support edge the second inner support edge, and the third inner support edge.
 4. The glove of claim 3, wherein the outer border further comprises: a second narrowing edge joined to the third inner support edge; a second edge joined to the second narrowing edge; and a front edge, joined to the second edge and the first edge.
 5. The glove of claim 4, further comprising a front edge axis parallel to and collinear with the front edge; a first edge axis parallel to and collinear with the first edge; a first narrowing edge axis parallel to and collinear with the first narrowing edge; a first inner support edge axis parallel to and collinear with the first inner support edge; a second inner support edge axis parallel to and collinear with a second inner support edge; a third inner support edge axis parallel to and collinear with the third inner support edge; a second narrowing edge axis parallel to and collinear with the second narrowing edge; wherein the first edge axis, the first inner support edge axis, and the third inner support edge axis are parallel to the second edge axis; wherein the front edge axis is parallel to the second inner support edge axis; wherein the front edge axis and second inner support edge axis are perpendicular to the first edge axis, the first inner support edge axis, the third inner support edge axis and the second edge axis.
 6. The glove of claim 5, further comprising a first intersection angle, measured from the front edge axis counterclockwise to the first narrowing edge axis; a second intersection angle, measured from the front edge axis clockwise to the second narrowing edge axis; a third intersection angle, measured from the second inner support edge axis counterclockwise to the first narrowing edge axis; a fourth intersection angle, measured from the second inner support edge axis clockwise to the second narrowing edge axis; wherein, the first intersection angle, the second intersection angle, the third intersection angle, and the fourth intersection angle are approximately equal and approximately 45 degrees wherein the first narrowing edge axis is perpendicular to the second inner support edge axis. 